Afrikaans has a similar phonology to other West Germanic languages, especially Dutch.
Afrikaans has an extensive vowel inventory consisting of 17 vowel phonemes, including 10 monophthongs and 7 diphthongs. There are also 7 marginal monophthongs.
Front | Central | Back | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | ||||||
short | long | short | short | long | short | long | short | long | |
Close | i | ( iː ) | y (ː) | u | ( uː ) | ||||
Mid | ɛ | ( ɛː ) | ə | ( əː ) | œ | ( œː ) | ɔ | ( ɔː ) | |
Near-open | ( æ ) | ( æː ) | |||||||
Open | a | ɑː |
Short | Long | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Phoneme | IPA | Orthography | Gloss | Phoneme | IPA | Orthography | Gloss |
/i/ | /dif/ | dief | 'thief' | /iː/ | /spiːl/ | spieël | 'mirror' |
/y/ | /ˈsykis/ | suutjies | 'quietly' | ||||
/u/ | /buk/ | boek | 'book' | /uː/ | /kuːl/ | koeël | 'bullet' |
/ɛ/ | /bɛt/ | bed | 'bed' | /eː/ | /seː/ | sê | 'say' |
/ə/ | /kənt/ | kind | 'child' | /əː/ | /ˈvəːə/ | wîe | 'wedges' |
/œ/ | /kœs/ | kus | 'kiss' | /œː/ | /rœːə/ | rûe | 'backs' |
/ɔ/ | /bɔk/ | bok | 'goat' | /oː/ | /soːə/ | sôe | 'sows' |
/æ/ | /pæl/ | pêl | 'pal' | /æː/ | /fæːr/ | ver | 'far' |
/a/ | /kat/ | kat | 'cat' | /ɑː/ | /kɑːrt/ | kaart | 'map' |
In some instances of the postvocalic sequence /ns/, /n/ is realized as nasalisation (and lengthening, if the vowel is short) of the preceding monophthong, which is stronger in some speakers than others, but there also are speakers retaining [n] as well as the original length of the preceding vowel. [29]
Collins & Mees (2003) analyze the pre-/s/ sequences /an,ɛn,ɔn/ as phonemic short vowels /ɑ̃,ɛ̃,ɔ̃/ and note that this process of nasalising the vowel and deleting the nasal occurs in many dialects of Dutch as well, such as The Hague dialect. [30]
Starting point | Ending point | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Front | Central | Back | ||
Closed | unrounded | iʊ̯ | ||
rounded | uɪ̯ | |||
Mid | unrounded | əɪ̯ | ɪə | |
rounded | œɪ̯,ɔɪ̯,oːɪ̯ | ʏə,ʊə | œʊ̯ | |
Open | unrounded | aɪ̯,ɑːɪ̯ |
Phoneme | IPA | Orthography | Gloss |
---|---|---|---|
/ɪø/ | /sɪøn/ | seun | 'son' |
/əɪ̯/ | /ɦəɪ̯/ | hy | 'he' |
/ɪə/ | /vɪət/ | weet | 'to know' |
/œɪ̯/ | /ɦœɪ̯s/ | huis | 'house' |
/ɔɪ̯/ | /ˈχɔɪ̯əŋ/ | goiing | 'burlap' |
/ʊə/ | /brʊət/ | brood | 'bread' |
/œʊ̯/ | /kœʊ̯t/ | koud | 'cold' |
/aɪ̯/ | /ˈbaɪ̯ə/ | baie | 'many' |
The long diphthongs, also known as 'double vowels', are phonemically sequences of a free vowel and a non-syllabic equivalent of /i/ or /u/: /iu,ui,oːi,eu,ɑːi/. Although both /iu/ and /eu/ are typically pronounced as [iu], they are spelled differently; the former as ⟨ieu⟩, and the latter as ⟨eeu⟩. [44]
In diminutives ending in /ki/ formed to monosyllabic nouns, the vowels /u,ɪə,ʊə,ɛ,ə,œ,ɔ,a,ɑː/ are realised as closing diphthongs [ui,ei,oi,ɛi,əi,œi,ɔi,ai,ɑːi]. In the same environment, the sequences /ɛn,ən,œn,ɔn,an/ are realized as [ɛiɲ,əiɲ,œiɲ,ɔiɲ,aiɲ], i.e. as closing diphthongs followed by palatal nasal. [45]
Pronunciation | Examples | ||
---|---|---|---|
Standard Dutch | Afrikaans | Standard Dutch | Afrikaans |
short a/ɑ/ | /a/ | kat /ˈkɑt/ | kat /ˈkat/ |
long a/aː/ | /ɑː/ | kaart /ˈkaːrt/ | kaart /ˈkɑːrt/ |
short e/ɛ/ | /ɛ/ | bed /ˈbɛt/ | |
long e/eː/ | /ɪə/ | weet /ˈʋeːt/ | weet /ˈvɪət/ |
eu/øː/ | /ʏə/ | neus /ˈnøːs/ | neus /ˈnʏəs/ |
short i/ɪ/ | /ə/ | kind /ˈkɪnt/ | kind /ˈkənt/ |
long i, ie/i/ | /i/ | dief /ˈdif/ | |
short o/ɔ/ | /ɔ/ | bok /ˈbɔk/ | |
long o/oː/ | /ʊə/ | brood /ˈbroːt/ | brood /ˈbrʊət/ |
oe/u/ | /u/ | boer /ˈbur/ | |
short u/ʏ/ | /œ/ | kus /ˈkʏs/ | kus /ˈkœs/ |
long u/y/ | /y/ | duur /ˈdyr/ | |
ai/ɑɪ̯/ | /aɪ̯/ | ai /ˈɑɪ̯/ | ai /ˈaɪ̯/ |
aai/aːɪ̯/ | /ɑːɪ̯/ | haai /ˈhaːɪ̯/ | haai /ˈhɑːɪ̯/ |
au, auw/ɔʊ̯/ ou, ouw/ɔʊ̯/ | ou/œʊ̯/ | dauw /ˈdɔʊ̯/ koud, vrouw /ˈkɔʊ̯t,ˈvrɔʊ̯/ | dou /ˈdœʊ̯/ koud, vrou /ˈkœʊ̯t,ˈfrœʊ̯/ |
ei/ɛɪ̯/ ij/ɛɪ̯/ | ei/əɪ̯/ y/əɪ̯/ | eiland /ˈɛɪ̯lɑnt/ hij /ˈhɛɪ̯/ | eiland /ˈəɪ̯lant/ hy /ˈhəɪ̯/ |
eeu, eeuw/eːʊ̯/ | eeu/iʊ̯/ | leeuw /ˈleːʊ̯/ | leeu /ˈliʊ̯/ |
ieu, ieuw/iʊ̯/ | ieu/iʊ̯/ | kieuw /ˈkiʊ̯/ | kieu /ˈkiʊ̯/ |
oei/uɪ̯/ | /uɪ̯/ | groei /ˈɣruɪ̯/ | groei /ˈχruɪ̯/ |
ooi/oːɪ̯/ | /oːɪ̯/ | mooi /ˈmoːɪ̯/ | |
ui/œʏ̯/ | /œɪ̯/ | huis /ˈhœʏ̯s/ | huis /ˈhœɪ̯s/ |
uw/yʊ̯/ | u/y/ | schaduw /ˈsxaːdyʊ̯/ | skadu /ˈskɑːdy/ |
Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Dorsal | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
Plosive | voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | |
voiced | b | d | ( d͡ʒ ) | ( ɡ ) | ||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | χ | |
voiced | v | ( z ) | ʒ | ɦ | ||
Approximant | (w) | l | j | |||
Rhotic | r |
Pronunciation | Examples | ||
---|---|---|---|
Standard Dutch | Afrikaans | Standard Dutch | Afrikaans |
z/z/ voiced s/z/ | s/s/ | zuid /ˈzœʏ̯t/ analyse /aːnaːˈlizə/ | suid /ˈsœɪ̯t/ analise /ɑːnɑːˈlisə/ |
starting v/v/ | /f/ | vier /ˈvir/ | vier /ˈfir/ |
middle v/v/ | w /v/ | haven /ˈɦaːvən/ | hawe /ˈɦɑːvə/ |
v (for Latin and French loanwords) /v/ | v, w /v/ | visueel /vizyˈeːl/ conservatief /kɔnsɛrvaːtif/ | visueel /visyˈɪəl/ konserwatief /kɔnsɛrvɑːtif/ |
w/ʋ/ | /v,w/ | weet /ˈʋeːt/ kwaad /ˈkʋaːt/ wraak /ˈvraːk/ | weet /ˈvɪət/ kwaad /ˈkwɑːt/ wraak /ˈvrɑːk/ |
ch/x/ g/ɣ/ | g/χ/ | acht /ˈɑxt/ gat /ˈɣɑt/ | agt /ˈaχt/ gat /ˈχat/ |
sch/sx/ | sk/sk/ | school /ˈsxoːl/ | skool /ˈskʊəl/ |
-rgen/-rɣən/ | -rge/-rgə/ | bergen /ˈbɛrɣə(n)/ | berge /ˈbɛrgə/ |
-rv-/-rv/ | -rw-/-rv/ | sterven /ˈstɛrvə(n)/ | sterwe /ˈstɛrvə/ |
-tie/-tsi,-si/ | -sie/-si/ | actie /ˈɑktsi~ˈɑksi/ | aksie /ˈaksi/ |
-st/-st/ | -s/-s/ | best /ˈbɛst/ | bes /ˈbɛs/ |
-cht/-xt/ | -g/-χ/ | lucht, echtgenoot /ˈlʏxt,ˈɛxtxənoːt/ | lug, eggenoot /ˈlœχ,ˈɛχənʊət/ |
-ct/-kt/ | -k/-k/ | contact /ˈkɔntɑkt/ | kontak /ˈkɔntak/ |
-isch/-is/ | -ies/-is/ | Tsjechisch /ˈtʃɛxis/ | Tsjeggies /ˈtʃɛχis/ |
Voiceless | Voiced | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Phoneme | Example | Phoneme | Example | ||||
IPA | IPA | Orthography | Gloss | IPA | IPA | Orthography | Gloss |
/m/ | /man/ | man | 'man' | ||||
/n/ | /noːɪ̯/ | nooi | 'invite' | ||||
/ŋ/ | /səŋ/ | sing | 'to sing' | ||||
/p/ | /pɔt/ | pot | 'pot' | /b/ | /bɛt/ | bed | 'bed' |
/t/ | /ˈtɑːfəl/ | tafel | 'table' | /d/ | /dak/ | dak | 'roof' |
/k/ | /kat/ | kat | 'cat' | /ɡ/ | /ˈsɔrɡə/ | sorge | 'cares' |
/tʃ/ | /ˈtʃɛχis/ | Tsjeggies | 'Czech' | /dʒ/ | /ˈbadʒi/ | budjie | 'budgerigar' |
/f/ | /fits/ | fiets | 'bicycle' | /v/ | /ˈvɑːtər/ | water | 'water' |
/s/ | /sɪøn/ | seun | 'son' | /z/ | /ˈzulu/ | Zoeloe | 'Zulu' |
/χ/ | /χut/ | goed | 'good' | ||||
/ʃ/ | /ˈʃina/ | Sjina | 'China' | /ʒ/ | /viʒyˈɪəl/ | visueel | 'visually' |
/ɦ/ | /ɦœɪ̯s/ | huis | 'house' | ||||
/l/ | /lif/ | lief | 'dear' | ||||
/j/ | /ˈjɪəsœs/ | Jesus | 'Jesus' | ||||
/r/ | /roːɪ̯/ | rooi | 'red' |
Some studies [55] suggest Afrikaans is currently undergoing tonogenesis, whereby the contrast in voicing of onset plosives is turning into a contrast in the tone of the following vowel. This change is especially prevalent among younger and female speakers, and it is attributed to prolonged contacts with Khoisan and Bantu languages.
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